Hybrid manufacturing and mechanical properties of architected interpenetrating phase metal-ceramic and metal-metal composites

Abstract

A hybrid manufacturing process for the fabrication of architected metal-ceramic and metal-metal interpenetrating phase composites (IPCs) is elaborated and employed to assess the mechanical performance of novel, advanced composite materials. In particular, aluminum-based co-continuous composites, reinforced with triply periodic minimal surface (TPMS) steel and ceramic (zirconia) phases are engineered, combining 3D-printing and investment casting techniques. The hybrid process results in excellent wettability between the ceramic-Al and steel-Al phases, characterized through Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and micro-CT scanning analysis. The arising IPCs yield mechanical properties that utterly differ from the performance of the base ceramic or steel TPMS reinforcement topologies, with the ceramic-Al composites to furnish a highly ductile response and steel-Al IPCs a remarkable post-elastic stiffening performance. Ceramic-based IPCs yield a specific energy absorption (SEA) that is more than 400 times higher than the one of single-phase ceramic metamaterials, while steel-based IPCs allow for SEA values in the order of 50 J/g, values which rank among the highest ever reported for architected IPCs. A broader Ashby-type classification is provided, while the efficiency of the IPC plastification process is associated with the obtained SEA values. Moreover, experimental results are complemented by finite element analysis insights in the effect of the interpenetrating phase design on the inner stresses developed. The hybrid manufacturing process and the co-continuous composites investigated open novel pathways in the engineering of next-generation multifunctional architected IPCs for base material combinations beyond the ones here considered.